


Work in Progress

by Bearixt



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: 5+1 Things, Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Canon Reinterpretation, Jealous Steve, M/M, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Oblivious Steve, The Avengers (2012) Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-26
Updated: 2018-05-26
Packaged: 2019-05-14 00:01:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14758790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bearixt/pseuds/Bearixt
Summary: Five times Steve didn't know what he was feeling, and the one time he did.





	Work in Progress

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to me, as I officially descend to stony fanfic-writing hell. Hooray!
> 
> Thank you so much to Chin for the beta! She doesn't usually read fics, and this is even her first slash, but she still did it. My news editor is amazing, and I can't believe we're graduating in a few days. *sniffs*
> 
> Written as a fill for my (first ever!) stony mcu bingo square T2 '5+1' and 2018 round 1 bingo square N4.

_One._

Steve wanted to talk to Tony Stark. He could not comprehend what he and Doctor Banner had been talking about (only managed to understand one reference in their conversation), but in just the few minutes Steve knew Stark, he could feel the same level of brilliance radiating from him like Howard used to. He would like to get to know the man better.

He found him on one of the many rooms of the Helicarrier, still talking to Banner. Didn’t they just meet earlier? They were awfully close.

“Well, I promise a stress-free environment. No tension, no surprises,” Steve heard Stark say before he pricked Banner with a pointy object, possibly electric. When Stark squinted his eyes and leaned closer, Steve frowned and entered the room.

“Hey!” Steve shouted, but Stark ignored him. He simply asked Banner, “Nothing?”

Walking closer to the two, Steve spoke again. “Are you nuts?”

Tony spared him a quick look to say “Jury’s out” before returning his gaze back to an amused Banner. They _did_ just meet a few hours ago. How could the doctor be this calm, even amused, by Stark’s antics? And why is Stark goofing around with him while they were having a serious situation?

“—your secret? Mellow jazz, bongo drums, huge bag of weed?” Stark continued to ask.

“Is everything a joke to you?” Steve barked.

That got Stark’s attention. “Funny things are,” he said.

“Threatening the safety on this ship isn’t funny,” Steve said. Remembering the doctor was in the room, he quickly added, “No offense, doc.”

Banner just shrugged, claiming that he could handle pointy things. Tony tsked. “You’re tiptoeing, big man. You need to strut.”

“And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark.”

They brought up their suspicions about Fury. Steve’s eyes narrowed when Stark offered Banner food while they discuss. When Stark revealed that he was hacking into SHIELD, he offered Steve blueberries, too.

Steve ignored it. They had more important things to do, and they weren’t friends. Not like him and Banner apparently were.

“We have orders. We should follow them,” Steve said.

“Following is not really my style,” Stark replied before he popped some berries in his mouth, Steve’s eyes following the movement.

The two teamed up, and Steve didn’t have anything else to say. He clenched his jaw, looked at Banner, then back to Stark. “Just find the cube,” he said before storming out of the room.

 

 

_Two._

New York was saved, and Steve started to live in the Avengers Tower along with the others. Stark—no, Tony had been gracious to give them all a place to stay.

Steve thought that an entire floor was too much, but Tony said that he had a lot of rooms to spare.

It was four in the morning, and Steve was drinking a hot chocolate, absentmindedly watching anything JARVIS played for him on the dark living room, when the elevators opened and Tony came out wearing a black tank top and boxers.

He didn’t look surprised to see him. Steve knew he would be impossible to miss because of the lights from the TV. Still, Tony just went straight to the kitchen and prepared himself a hot chocolate from the container Steve left in the counter.

Steve didn’t mean to stare, but the light coming from his chest made it difficult for him to look away. It was disorienting to suddenly be reminded that Tony wasn’t made of expensive suits and metal armor.

Of course, Steve knew that. He also knew that Tony did a lot of heavy lifting in his work so of course, he would have nicely-built arms, but as he said, it was just disorienting to see him outside of his suits.

He was surprised when Tony plopped down on the seat beside him, quiet and just watching the TV which was now switched to an old cartoon.

Steve had no idea what he should do.

“Uh, hey,” he started, voice low to not disrupt the serene mood. “Are you up early or you still haven’t slept?”

“Already had a few winks.”

“What are you doing here, then?”

“Don’t wanna be there when she wakes up. J knows what to do.” Tony took a sip of his chocolate.

“She?”

Tony exhaled. “Are we doing twenty questions, cap? Don’t really remember her name. Kris or Christy or something. Dunno.”

It clicked to Steve. He frowned. Of course.

“I’ll just take a walk outside,” he muttered, standing up to go to the kitchen.

He flinched when he accidentally crushed the cup on the counter. He sighed, picking up the pieces and throwing it to the trash bin before he went to the elevator.

Tony waved a hand on his way out.

Steve couldn’t handle his carefree attitude too early in the morning.

_Three._

“I’m gonna miss him, though. And you’re gonna miss me. There’s gonna be a lot of manful tears,” Tony said to Steve as they walked on the lawn that Thor just vacated.

They finished cleaning up the whole Ultron mess and Thor just left Earth to gather more information about the infinity stones. So many things have happened and Steve barely managed to catch up with them all. A homicidal robot, an android, magic stones, and of course, Clint and his family. There wasn’t time to have a small talk with Tony, even when they had to share a room, so Steve decided to walk him to his car and seize the opportunity.

“I will miss you, Tony,” Steve said, because he knew he would. They may have gotten off the wrong foot before and things had been rocky, but Steve knew that their relationship significantly improved. He could count on Tony whenever he needed; he was the kind of person who would lay down on the wire.

Tony looked at him. There was a short pause before he replied, “Yeah?”

Steve inwardly frowned. He was about to tell him that he genuinely meant it when Tony brought up Clint’s family and that maybe it was time for him to do the same.

“Build Pepper a farm, hope nobody blows it up,” Tony said.

His muscles tensed, but Steve still maintained the smile on his face. The exhaustion from the battle were probably settling in, his body starting to ache. He stood straighter and put his hands on his belt. “The simple life.”

“You’ll get there one day.”

“I don’t know. Family, stability,” Steve said, lightly raising his shoulders. “The guy who wanted all that went in the ice 75 years ago. I think someone else came out.”

Steve didn’t know why he said that, but it was true. He wasn’t sure who he was supposed to be. Tony caught his eye before he gave a small nod and opened the door of his expensive car. “You all right?”

Tony’s black-tinted glasses slightly obscured his eyes, but Steve could still feel the weight of his stare nonetheless. Steve looked around him and took a deep breath before answering, “I’m home.” That, he was sure. Tony gave him one before. Tony made him feel so.

Steve saw a corner of Tony’s mouth lifted before he entered his car and drove away.

After, Steve stayed in the compound and trained the new members of the team with Natasha. He didn’t understand why he felt bothered, like something was off with his entire conversation with Tony. Maybe it was because of Natasha’s jab at him; it wasn’t as if he and Tony were gazing into each other’s eyes.

Even if they were, it was only because Steve was captivated by Tony’s eyes, how it could reveal his innermost expressions despite trying to hide it behind his snarky attitude and media smiles.

 

 

_Four._

It was during their stay in Wakanda, while sitting on the spacious lounge the young king provided for them, when it happened.

The ‘Rogue Avengers’, as the media put it, had developed a hobby of spending most of their days watching TV. Sometimes, they’d watch the meetings and hearings about the recent changes in Accords take place. Other times, they’d watch cooking shows for Wanda.

That day, Steve waited with the rest of the world for Tony to come out and deliver whatever speech he had prepared. There was some betting involved in the group. Sam said that it was probably the new line of prosthetics. Natasha thought that it may have something to do with the remaining, non-fugitive Avengers. Steve had the feeling that it was about the spider kid he seemed to be mentoring—he knew about the whole Vulture fiasco, thanks to Wakanda’s advanced technology.

But then Pepper Potts walked onto the stage, closely followed by a giddy-looking Tony… who dropped to his knees and brought out a small ring.

Steve felt his stomach drop, his insides feel as though it was being frozen. He was in the ice, all over again.

“Uh, Cap? I’m not sure we have the money to pay for that.”

Steve blinked himself out of stupor, and looked down to see the corner of the table broken with its crumbles scattered on the floor. He wasn’t aware how it happened, but he had an idea. He flexed fingers and it stung.

Oddly enough, he could feel his heart stinging, too.

He closed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair, breathing deeply and counting one to ten before opening it again.

He can feel their questioning gaze, but he didn’t have anything to say to them. “I’m going to my room. I’ll apologize to T’Challa later.” He nodded at their general direction and went out the room, steps as heavy as his feelings.

 

 

_Five._

The Guardians of the Galaxy arrived, bringing with them the terrible news of an upcoming war that could be the end of the universe… and an irksome guy that could make Steve tear his new longer hair out.

It was apparently his first time back on Earth after a long time. He was in a similar position with Steve when he first woke up in this century, but he couldn’t bring himself to completely feel sympathy for the man.

Not when his clothes were “blasted to smithereens by the purple man army” and he was standing only with tattered pants that barely covered anything. Steve pressed his lips flat as Tony blatantly gave the newcomer an appreciative look over.

“So, Quill. How does your gun work?” Tony asked, the flirting tone not lost on Steve, nor on anyone present in the compound.

Rhodes rolled his eyes. “I think I prefer you when you are engaged.”

Quill, who was brandishing his admittedly cool-looking guns, paused and raised a brow. “You’re engaged?” Steve was a hundred percent sure that he was purposely exaggerating his movements, because there was no need to flex his muscles like that. No need at all.

“Nope. Or, technically speaking, yes, I was. Used to. But it’s a fake. Blah, blah, long and boring story. We should continue talking about you and those blasters.”

“Or we can talk about the actual problem here, Tony,” Steve snapped.

Tony averted his gaze from Quill’s body, and Steve strangely wanted to pump his fist in the air. He was unprepared to see Tony’s expressive eyes directed at him again after a long, long time.

(After Steve slammed his shield to Tony.)

He inhaled sharply, his heart hammered in his chest, but he maintained eye contact and braced himself for Tony’s scathing remarks.

“Déjà vu. Why am I getting déjà vu. We already had a similar conversation before, haven’t we?” Tony shrugged, and that was… not what Steve expected.

Before he could think of a reply, Tony had already turned his back on him as the green lady stepped forward to discuss their strategy in beating Thanos.

 

 

 

_One._

Steve never knew what happened between Stephen Strange and Tony during their trip to Titan, but he had observed two things when they returned: first, they were suddenly on a first-name basis, and second, the sorcerer’s cloak liked to hug Tony’s features.

Peter, not the annoying Peter who was thankfully out of the planet or the universe, had explained it enthusiastically to Rhodes. “He told Mr. Stark that he would always choose the stone over us, but when Thanos threatened to hurt Mr. Stark, Doctor Strange offered the stone. I mean, yeah, in the end it was a trick and all that stuff. But you know. He’s a cool guy.”

Steve had gritted his teeth. Sure, Steve had no PhD like Bruce or Strange, but he knew Tony longer. And maybe their first meeting wasn’t exactly the best and he chose the planet over Tony, unlike Strange who apparently gave up the stone for him, but his feelings at that moment, the agony and devastation of having to make the call to close the portal, had to count, right?

On one sunny day, Steve was preparing two cups of coffee—one for him, and the other, for Tony, who should be arriving in the common room in a while. Tony would end up wanting more than one cup, but Steve knew that he already drank a pot too many the past few days.

On second thought, maybe he should’ve prepared hot chocolate instead. It should help him calm his nerves after another stressful meeting about the revised Accords.

He heard the elevators open and smiled to himself, picking up the cups, ready to greet Tony.

“Hey, Stark. Already cozy with the moving mantle, huh?” Clint said from his place at the sofa.

Steve went out the counter and there Tony was, with the cloak hovering next to him like it was gushing over the genius, and Tony had the exasperated but fond expression Steve only saw when he was with his bots.

“I wonder how many times do I need to tell you that it’s called the Levitating Cloak, Barton.”

And of course, there was Strange, too, looking too prim and majestic for Steve’s liking. Steve made sure that he had a pleasant expression on his face first as he walked to them.

“Hi, Tony. How’s the meeting?” Steve asked, nodding briefly to Strange before giving Tony his cup.

Tony inspected the cup and raised a brow. “One of my favorite cups have cracks again, why?”

There was a snicker coming from the couch, and Steve could feel the tips of his ears warming. He closed his free fist on his side, opened it, and cleared his throat. “Well, uh.”

“Nah, don’t answer that. You don’t have to answer that. Thanks, Steve,” Tony said with a small smile, and Steve could see the colors around him turn gray, with only Tony shining so brightly in the middle, looking so full of life and—

Everything returned back to normal as Tony turned his attention to Strange and tilted his head. Strange shrugged, Tony nodded, and looked at the others in the room. What the hell was _that?_

“Listen up. Stephen’s an official Avenger now.”

There were cheers, Peter’s most notably, and an “about goddamn time” from Rhodes. Sam, who was sitting next to him, crossed his legs and leaned back on the couch. “Why only now, man?” he asked.

“I had duties to do as the Sorcerer Supreme and as the keeper of the time stone,” Strange said, tugging at his cloak but it continued to cling to Tony. He sighed before continuing, “I did not want to give my word until I am sure that I can be counted on when I am needed.”

Steve inwardly scoffed.

“Come on, I’ll show you to your room,” Tony said. He jerked his head toward the elevator.

“Is it really necessary? I need to leave soon.”

“Can’t spare a few minutes for your one in 14 million?” Tony asked teasingly, and started to walk to the elevator.

Steve had no idea what was that supposed to mean, but he did not like it. In two big strides, he caught up to Tony and held his arm. He vaguely remembered the cup he threw aside as he stared at Tony’s confused face, mind whirling as he tried to come up with any reason for Tony to not be in a room alone with Strange.

There was a sigh from behind. “Remember what I told you? Just talk already. I’m leaving. I’ll just ask FRIDAY about whatever I need,” Stephen said, the cloak floating back to him, and then he disappeared. Steve wasn’t sure but he thought he saw him smirk.

“Cap? You okay?“

“Steve.”

Tony blinked at him. “What?”

Steve removed his hand and used it to rub the back of his neck. “Didn’t you already agree to call me Steve when we’re not on missions?”

“O…kay?” Tony frowned at him. “Seriously, what’s wrong, Steve?”

“I don’t—” Steve groaned. To hell with it. He would tell him the truth; he vowed to never keep things from Tony again. “I don’t like seeing you with Strange, or with Quill, or with anyone at all. I know that’s selfish and impossible, but the only person I want by your side, the only person I want you to flirt with, the only person I want to be able to make you smile your lovely smile… is me.”

Steve held his breath, waiting for the rejection or for Tony to casually set it aside as a joke.

“Well, damn, it's today out of all days,” Tony muttered. “That asshole was actually telling the truth.”

Tony looked at him and crossed his arms. “Took you long enough. If you think your animosity toward Quill, or Stephen, or that guy who tried to dance with me a week ago—”

“Tiberius. His name was Tiberius.”

“—Oh yeah, it was Ty. Already forgot about that. But anyway, if you think you aren’t obvious, then that’s cute. You’re ridiculously cute. I thought _I_ would be the obvious one, after I gave you all those art materials, and invited you to watch baseball. And Rhodey’s jabs. I don’t watch baseball. Hell, I treated you to a romantic dinner. Yesterday. That was yesterday.”

Steve was stunned to silence, but when Tony’s beautiful laugh entered his ears, _and god, Tony is_ _beautiful,_ he willed his limbs to move. He leaned down and captured Tony’s lips with his own. He won’t walk or turn away from him, and he won’t let Tony do so as well, ever again.

Steve didn’t know when it started, didn’t know how it happened, but Steve knew that being in love with Tony Stark was the progress that he would never get tired of working on—actually, the progress that he would rather work on, for the rest of his life.

**Author's Note:**

> Steve and Tony only remembered that they were still in the room when the others started shouting and money was being passed around. A few days later, their relationship was known to the public after a certain _teenager_ posted their kiss on YouTube.
> 
> Alternate title is five times Steve or Tony walked or turned away from each other, and the one time Steve didn't let Tony do so. Square N4 was 'shirtless with a gun', by the way.
> 
> Thank you for reading, and I hope you liked it! You can also find me at my recently-made Tumblr under the same username (bearixt). A quick share: I also made a fandom twitter account some weeks ago, but deleted it after a few days. I think I was immediately surrounded by the wrong crowd. Tony-antis are so wild.


End file.
